Operation Condor

In a February 1976 telecom from the embassy in Buenos Aires to the State Department, intelligence noted the United States possessed awareness of the coming Argentine coup. The ambassador wrote that the Chief of the North American desk of the Foreign Ministry revealed that he had been asked by the "Military Planning Group" to prepare a report and recommendations for how the "future military government can avoid or minimize the sort of problems the Chilean and Uruguayan governments are having with the US over human rights issue". The Chief also specifically stated that "they" (whether he is referring to the CIA or the future military government in Argentina, or both) will face resistance if they were to begin assassinating and executing individuals. This being true, the ambassador explains the military coup will "intend to carry forward an all-out war on the terrorists and that some executions would therefore probably be necessary". This signals that the US also was aware of the planning of human rights violations before they occurred and did not step in to prevent them, despite being entangled in the region's politics already. The last comment confirms this: "It is encouraging to note that the Argentine military are aware of the problem and are already focusing on ways to avoid letting human rights issues become an irritant in US-Argentine Relations".{{cite web|title=Communication From Ambassador Hill for ARA Acting Assistant Secretary|url=http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB185/19760216%20Military%20Take%20Cognizance%20of%20Human%20Rights%20Issue%2000009FF0.pdf|website=National Security Archive|access-date=30 January 2017|archive-date=1 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101052519/http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB185/19760216%20Military%20Take%20Cognizance%20of%20Human%20Rights%20Issue%2000009FF0.pdf|url-status=live}}

In a February 1976 telecom from the embassy in Buenos Aires to the State Department, intelligence noted the United States possessed awareness of the coming Argentine coup. The ambassador wrote that the Chief of the North American desk of the Foreign Ministry revealed that he had been asked by the "Military Planning Group" to prepare a report and recommendations for how the "future military government can avoid or minimize the sort of problems the Chilean and Uruguayan governments are having with the US over human rights issue". The Chief also specifically stated that "they" (whether he is referring to the CIA or the future military government in Argentina, or both) will face resistance if they were to begin assassinating and executing individuals. This being true, the ambassador explains the military coup will "intend to carry forward an all-out war on the terrorists and that some executions would therefore probably be necessary". This signals that the US also was aware of the planning of human rights violations before they occurred and did not step in to prevent them, despite being entangled in the region's politics already. The last comment confirms this: "It is encouraging to note that the Argentine military are aware of the problem and are already focusing on ways to avoid letting human rights issues become an irritant in US-Argentine Relations".{{cite web|title=Communication From Ambassador Hill for ARA Acting Assistant Secretary|url=http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB185/19760216%20Military%20Take%20Cognizance%20of%20Human%20Rights%20Issue%2000009FF0.pdf|website=National Security Archive|access-date=30 January 2017|archive-date=1 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101052519/http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB185/19760216%20Military%20Take%20Cognizance%20of%20Human%20Rights%20Issue%2000009FF0.pdf|url-status=live}}

Regarding the ongoing human rights abuses by the Argentine junta, Professor Ruth Blakeley writes that Kissinger "explicitly expressed his support for the repression of political opponents".{{cite book|last=Blakeley|first=Ruth|date=2009|title=State Terrorism and Neoliberalism: The North in the South|url=http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415462402/|publisher=[[Routledge]]|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rft8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA96 96]|isbn=978-0-415-68617-4|access-date=19 July 2018|archive-date=14 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614055306/http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415462402/|url-status=live}} On 5 October 1976 [[Henry Kissinger]] met with Argentina's foreign finister and said:

Regarding the ongoing human rights abuses by the Argentine junta, Professor Ruth Blakeley writes that Kissinger "explicitly expressed his support for the repression of political opponents".{{cite book|last=Blakeley|first=Ruth|date=2009|title=State Terrorism and Neoliberalism: The North in the South|url=http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415462402/|publisher=[[Routledge]]|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rft8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA96 96]|isbn=978-0-415-68617-4|access-date=19 July 2018|archive-date=14 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614055306/http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415462402/|url-status=live}} On 5 October 1976 [[Henry Kissinger]] met with Argentina's foreign minister and said:

{{blockquote|Look, our basic attitude is that we would like you to succeed. I have an old-fashioned view that friends ought to be supported. What is not understood in the United States is that you have a civil war. We read about human rights problems but not the context. The quicker you succeed the better ... The human rights problem is a growing one. Your Ambassador can apprise you. We want a stable situation. We won't cause you unnecessary difficulties. If you can finish before Congress gets back, the better. Whatever freedoms you could restore would help.|source = [[Henry Kissinger]], U.S. Secretary of State, 5 October 1976 record of conversation[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB104/index.htm The Dirty War in Argentina] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031223085626/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB104/index.htm |date=23 December 2003 }}, National Security Archive, George Washington University, Retrieved 6 August 2010.{{cite news|last=Borger|first=Julian|date=27 August 2004|title=Kissinger backed dirty war against left in Argentina|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/aug/28/argentina.julianborger|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=14 August 2018|archive-date=29 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829141341/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/aug/28/argentina.julianborger|url-status=live}}}}

{{blockquote|Look, our basic attitude is that we would like you to succeed. I have an old-fashioned view that friends ought to be supported. What is not understood in the United States is that you have a civil war. We read about human rights problems but not the context. The quicker you succeed the better ... The human rights problem is a growing one. Your Ambassador can apprise you. We want a stable situation. We won't cause you unnecessary difficulties. If you can finish before Congress gets back, the better. Whatever freedoms you could restore would help.|source = [[Henry Kissinger]], U.S. Secretary of State, 5 October 1976 record of conversation[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB104/index.htm The Dirty War in Argentina] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031223085626/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB104/index.htm |date=23 December 2003 }}, National Security Archive, George Washington University, Retrieved 6 August 2010.{{cite news|last=Borger|first=Julian|date=27 August 2004|title=Kissinger backed dirty war against left in Argentina|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/aug/28/argentina.julianborger|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=14 August 2018|archive-date=29 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829141341/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/aug/28/argentina.julianborger|url-status=live}}}}